Beetlejuice Hereafter
by Siblingcest
Summary: Set after the events of the movie and before the cartoon: Lydia faces life without the Maitlands, while Beetlejuice must deal with the one who cursed him, an event that leads to the duo we all know and love...whether he likes it or not....
1. Curdlejuice

**PROLOGUE – CURDLEJUICE**

- -

Beetlejuice came to a horrifying conclusion: He was never going to be given the chance to use his talents again, and when it came down right to it, that really pissed him off. He had mastered the supernatural-powers death had given him, only to be cast aside as the one you were never to speak of, wrongfully accused of being nothing more than a troublemaker.

While it was true he loved having fun-that's not all he was about. He knew he was different, but being dead for so long, you couldn't blame him. Everyone would always look past this, and only see his ultimate goal and gross nature.

Unlike most of the others-and to their amazement-he willingly stayed behind in the Neitherworld, and passed up every invitation into the next world, where all were destined to go after their punishment in paperwork. He claimed that the next world was for losers, and you would no longer be connected to your world that had rightfully been yours to live in (or haunt), and so he declined from even the thought of moving on.

They were nothing more than ungrateful as far as he was concerned.

He sat there in his study, reading the latest in the Neitherworld's happenings. "If I were to rid the world of the living, then no one would have to…"

He paused, feeling a shiver run down his neck as he came across a heading in bold letters, which read: "NEW ARRIVAL," followed by a sub-heading in a smaller font, "The Living Immortal No Longer."

In it, the article explained that the hands of death finally grasped her. He knew that he no longer had to wait, for she had promised him. He knew, the one who had shown Beetlejuice another side to his being had finally succumb to death's door, and now he had to sit in fear for her arrival.

She was the one who cursed him, but not just literally. She had also cursed him into another state-of-being, and that had been love.

Beetlejuice looked at the ring on his finger, pained by what she had put him through. The one who cursed the beetle, and set loose the juice.

"Curdle…"

--

Meanwhile, a tearful Lydia Deetz was saying goodbye to the Maitlands, whom had been invited into the next world, and after a long discussion they all decided that perhaps it was for the best that they all moved on. Because of their temporal manifestation had been eased by accepting the Deetz family into their home, they were allowed to do so, instead of waiting for the original time they had been given.

As hard as it was, it was time to say goodbye to the married couple.

"Barbara…Adam…"

Juno stood next to them both, and gazed into the young girl's eyes.

"You realize, you'll have no memory of them," she said. "And neither will your parents for that matter, so take all the time you need." She finished as a puff of smoke escaped from the slit in her neck, which was a reminder of her own murder.

"I'm going to miss you both."

"Honey, it's not like we won't see each other again," Barbara said, feeling Adam's touch as he shook his head in agreement.

"That's right, so just live your life to the fullest."

"But…"

Juno interrupted everyone, and pressed on. She was getting impatient, as she did have other clients to attend to.

"Well, I guess we should get going, Barbara," Adam stated.

"Goodbye…"

In a flash of green, Lydia found herself realizing she was going to be late for school.

--

Lydia rushed to school, cycling away as fast as she could to greet Prudence and Bertha, whom were really the only friends she had here at Miss Shannon's school for girls. They were nice to her, even if the didn't share her taste in the strange and unusual.

"Hurry up Lydia! Class is going to start in five-minutes," Prudence warned as she looked up at the girl.

As they hurried along, they would talk about concerns of the upcoming dance, which would be shared with the district of Mister McDonald's school for boys. Bertha dreamily spoke of having a romantic affair that night, and couldn't help but ask Lydia if she planned on going with someone.

"A dance really isn't my thing…and neither is romance, at least at this moment."

For a moment, she had a faint feeling of déjà vu, and almost recalled the certain marriage incident with Beetlejuice. However, it was a memory concealed away by the forces of the afterlife.

"Deadly-vu."

--

The cold rushed past a woman standing atop a skeleton statue that held an hourglass with sand at the bottom. Her eyes were filled with tired emotion, and sought out the one who had broken her heart.

Her powers greatly increased in death, she focused on him, savoring the fear in his eyes.

"So I meant nothing to you?"

Her black dress dangled in the wind, like spider's legs grasping for it's pray.

"You, the one who had promised to love me?"

She would either have him, or send him to the lost souls room. Either way, he was not going to escape her. Not this time.


	2. The Ring

**CHAPTER 1 – THE RING**

--

Lydia found herself admiring the ring on her finger. She had no recollection of where it came from, but it didn't matter. Not really. She played with it, and put it back on. She would daydream about a more exciting life, ignoring her lessons in the classroom. Only to be dawdled by Miss Shannon, and her worried friends.

"Lydia!"

She was far away from being aware of those surrounding her. Finally, she was getting the signal in her bored mind that they were calling her. "Oh, sorry ma'am. I guess I was just…" She didn't get to finish.

"Look at Lydia the daydreamer. Daydreaming about the boyfriend she doesn't have." Clare rudely announced, receiving a row of laughter.

Lydia felt embarrassed, but not because of what she had said, but the fact that people believed it. She wasn't interested. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Maybe she did want some sort of companion, but would it be of romance?

She sunk into her chair, with a blushed face.

Miss Shannon hushed the class before dismissing them all.

As Lydia walked away with her friends, curiosity got the best of them. "Lydia, where did you get that ring from?" They figured perhaps there was a boy in her life.

"This? I don't actually recall, but…I feel like it's important."

She inspected it again, realizing there was a name inscribed on it.

C-U-R-D-L-E

When she looked even closer, there were more letters.

B-E-T-E-L-G-E-U-S-E

"Curdle?"

"Betelgueuse?"

She pondered what kind of name this was.

"Curdle Betelguese?"

--

It had been a long time since Beetlejuice remembered the last time he had felt normal again, and that had been when he met Curdle during a séance. She had been an extremely powerful witch, familiar with the dark arts thought lost to history.

However, even though she had shown affection for him…she was still beyond his understanding. At first, he thought he had been in love, until….

"I have to get out of here."

He hurried away from his candles and scattered paperwork and business cards, but as he opened the door, there she was.

"Hello again, Juicy."

Beetlejuice hated that name. It's what she had called him, her pet name for him. In a way, he was her pet, to do with as she pleased.

"Curdle! Babe, I was just coming to see ya!"

He was powerfully pushed back into the wall, and held tightly by the bonds of her black dress.

"Lying as usual. You're scared to after death of me."

She smiled wickedly at him.

"I see you're still trying that bio-exorcist gig," she said as she looked at all of the cards on the floor. "Well, it's time you give that up." She pushed the candles over his den.

"MY STUFF!"

"Oh, please. Like there won't be anymore bugs for you to eat."

Beetlejuice was crude, and even sometimes a bit angry, but he was never mean enough to destroy someone's personal belongings, at least nothing dear to them and defiantly not on purpose.

"Juicy, I've got plans for us."

Beetlejuice twitched.

"What kind of plans?" He asked, gulping from fear.

"Big plans."

She approached him, and as the fire consumed everything, she kissed him on the lips.

"Now, about the ring…"

Beetlejuice quickly thought of all the things she would do to him, after learning that he had ditched it.

She lifted her hand to reveal a missing finger. "I believe you had it last," she said as she used this hand to caress his cheek.

"If I recall, you gave it to a young girl in an effort to escape my little curse."

Beetlejuice was surprised she knew about that. He was dead cold, even more so than usual as a dead guy.

"Yeah, that's correct. You also said I meant nothing to you."

She kept caressing him, and finally said. "Well, we're just going to have to get it back, aren't we?"

"After all, my plans won't work without it."

--

As Lydia was walking home from school, she noticed a black cat straying across the street. It looked so alone, that she couldn't help but take him in, which the two got along quite nicely from the get go.

"Poor thing, you look so cold out here."

Maybe this was the companionship she was looking for.

That night she had a nightmare of a giant snake, and ghosts that haunted her home. It felt more like a memory, than a dream and so she awoke in a cold sweat. She looked at the ring on her finger, as it seemed to glow with an eerie aurora.

"This ring? Where did it come from?"


	3. Haunted Living

**CHAPTER 2 – HAUNTED LIVING**

--

Beetlejuice stood before the skeletal statue, with it's dark gaze piercing his own. This was the entrance to all known worlds of the afterlife, and served as a shortcut to them all. It is said this statue marks the center and entirety of the supernatural.

"Where are we going?"

Beetlejuice didn't like being left in the dark.

"Be patient for once."

Curdle ignored any eye contact with him, and smiled at the sight o the statue. She lifted herself into the air, levitating by the hourglass. She carefully altered its position, forcing the sand to flow once again.

The eyes of the statue glowed with an eerie green light, soon turning to a flash of red.

"Hmm, I was never a fan of theatrics."

Beetlejuice winced as she said that. That was one of his specialties after all, and couldn't help but feel a bit resentful toward that remark. Theatrics were important, especially when hired to scare off the living, even though he recently hadn't been doing a very good job of that.

She motioned for him to step forward.

"I need you to do me a little favor, Juicy."

Favors? This wasn't good. The last time he had done her a favor, he was cursed and nearly banished to a fate darker than death itself.

"I need you to stir up a little trouble in the Netherworld. While I steal our ticket into the world of the living."

Beetlejuice gave her a funny look, as if to ignore the order.

"And what if I don't do this favor?"

She smiled darkly, reminding him that she knew everything about him, because of her curse, and the mental connection she shared with him.

"You used to never fear anything…until that little wedding of yours."

She played with him for a moment, and stared into his entire being.

"Do you want me to summon a sandworm for you?"

Beetlejuice was quick to shake his head in agreement. "Sure, sure…whatever you want babe." He defiantly didn't want to be eaten again, something he'd never want to go through ever again. The experience was awful….

"That's a good juicy."

She turned to the glowing red light, which formed a door to the Netherworld, and smiled.

--

Back with Lydia, she was petting her newfound feline friend. She petted, and patted him, showing affection to the poor creature.

"What shall I call you?"

The cat meowed, as if to answer her.

"How about Percy?"

It meowed again.

She laughed, as if the cat could actually understand her.

"If only you could talk…"

She really was lonely, and wished she could confide with the cat. For some reason, she felt like something had been taken away from her…something important, and maybe something even special.

She glanced at her ring again.

"Betelgeuse?"

The name sounded familiar, yet there was something off about it.

--

Lydia made her way back to her class, still haunted by the name. Curdle didn't mean anything to her, because she didn't get the same feeling of familiarity as she did with Betelgeuse.

Still, the ring itself was eerie, and it gave her a bad feeling.

She pondered this, as she was pushed against the locker. She looked at her assailant to find Clare staring right into her eyes.

"So Lydia, have you gotten a date yet?"

Lydia was in no mood, and tried walking off before pushed back again.

"Why don't you answer?"

Lydia was getting angry, and the ring began to glow green.

"Leave me alone!"

There was a puff of air as Clare was shot away by an unseen force.

Lydia looked down at the ring, surprised at the event.

Clare brought herself back to her feet, staring at Lydia with a weird look.

"What a weirdo."

She walked off; ignoring the supernatural event that had just taken place, as Lydia stared at the ring, which settled down, back to normal. Still resonating with an eerie glow previous to it's display.

Lydia was speechless.

--

Juno sat at her desk, finishing up the latest of her paperwork when she got the call. The line on the other side was the Mayor of the Netherworld, explaining that she needed to get down to meeting as soon as possible, because of some uproar.

"It's him…"

She knew it was Beetlejuice as soon as Mayor Maynot said that, and in that tone of his. She quickly got up, and left her office.

Black legs slowly consumed the office, as Curdle dropped from the ceiling. She looked around for the item she quested for.

Finally she came to the mirror...

She would be able to reenter the world of the living, as her ghostly self. This is what she had planned all along.

The only problem left now was to find her ring, and hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard to find this Lydia Deetz.


	4. Three Times The Charm

**CHAPTER 3 – THREE TIMES THE CHARM**

--

The young woman looked into his eyes, angry that he disobeyed her orders. She had summoned him, in order to be aided in destroying everything.

"But Curdle, that means everyone and everything will cease to exist, and as much as I like scheming, this is just too…this is wicked evil."

She smiled at him, and said, "We won't cease to exist." She raised her hand, revealing the ring on her finger. "All we need to do is get married, and everything will be ours."

"But I just want people to be with each other, not destroy them completely."

"You should know how well people do with each other. You lived through the black plague, after all. Why would you care what happens to them?"

"But…"

She interrupted him, "So, you won't help me?"

He thought for a moment, and answered her. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this. I just wanted to get rid of the living, so everyone can be with each other."

"Aw, too bad. For as long as I have this ring, you won't have much choice. Though, I had hoped our love would be more than enough for you." She started to cry. "People don't deserve anything…not after all that has happened to you, and me…"

"I guess I have no choice…"

The man's suit became draped with black-stripes.

"What is this?"

"If you won't do this willingly, then I will call upon the forces of the afterlife to consume your soul."

He felt betrayed, as he thought she'd never do something like this to him. He thought she could change, but it looked as if he was in even more trouble than before.

Juno would have a field day with him if she was here, but he had left her to become a freelancer.

"Do you remember those three words you told me?" She turned away from him, "Of course you do. I love you…those were your words."

She looked down.

"Well, I think that would be appropriate for your curse. Three times must your name be said, the same number of words it took to say that."

"I love you."

"The only way to brake the curse is to marry…like I wanted you to do, with me."

"Betelgeuse!"

"Betelgeuse!"

"Betelgeuse!"

The stripes settled into his being, and he felt a newfound darkness fall over him. It had been pieces of death, fear, and maybe even evil itself.

The sound of thunder roared through the darkened room, as Curdle walked up to him. Beetlejuice grabbed her by the hand, "What did you do to me?"

"Just a little curse. Now, you won't be able to come and go as you please, without someone reciting your name three times, and if you tell them your name to be called forth, you will be automatically sent to the lost souls room."

Beetlejuice tried pulling the ring off her finger, but disappeared back into the world of the dead, and with it, the very finger and ring that belonged to Curdle.

Curdle screamed in pain, as she realized that the forces of the afterlife had removed whatever was near Beetlejuice at the time. She bled, and vowed that when her time on earth was up, she would visit him.

"Damn, without that ring, I can't even summon you myself. I guess I rushed that curse a little bit."

That's how he had been cursed, and the memory faded away as he saw all of the ghouls and specters before him.

Juno had made her way to the front of the audience.

"Beetlejuice! What the hell are you attempting now?"

He cackled, and said. "Nothing, I just thought all the boys and ghouls would appreciate a little show." He had bound everyone in the meeting, and the Mayor was almost unable to contact Juno.

A skeleton spoke up, "It's horrible, he's a been showing off his most fearsome theatrics, and pulling pranks on us all. Sacre bleu, I'm in pieces."

Juno was angered at the trouble he was causing. "Beetlejuice, are you that desperate for your antics, that you're haunting the dead now?"

"Yeah, and I think I'm liking it. Living or dead, I bet I can scare the pants off of you, because I'm the ghost with the most. Not at all like you losers, and I'm really pissed that I can't even haunt without someone saying my name not once, but three times the charm. Do you know how annoying that is?"

"I'm a fucking professional."

Juno bravely walked closer to him.

"Beetlejuice, you know I care for you as my ex-apprentice, but I can only do so much for you. You've been lucky enough as it is, and I had to pull a lot of strings to keep you from being sent into the next world," she said, "You would be appreciated if you would only return to us, and not doing this for your own entertainment."

Beetlejuice cackled, and said, "You know, Curdle just passed into the world of the living, and broke the rules. At least that witch knows how to have fun, unlike you deadbeats."

Juno's eyes widened, "You mean she's still intent on taking over the world?"

"No, she's got much bigger plans than that. I came to warn you about it…all of you."

"Why would you warn us?"

"Because I want to freely haunt again!"

Juno knew that wasn't the real reason, but she decided to go along with it. She knew he did actually care for people…to an extent. He himself did have a family after all, and had spoken with them on occasion, in the hopes of keeping him out of trouble…but it hadn't really worked out as well as she hoped.

"Get me out of here, and take me to her before she does any damage!"

Juno shook her head. "I'm sorry Beetlejuice, but I can't let you run around because I just can't trust you anymore."

"She's going to bring me into the world herself anyway, when the time comes. Just let me out!"

Juno shook her head again.

--

Lydia tried remembering where the ring came from, but she wasn't sure. It felt like she had always had it, at least before she lost that special feeling she once had. It appeared on her bed one night, and without too much thinking she just assumed it had always been hers.

Now, it seemed like there really was something behind this ring. Whatever it was, she couldn't quite place it.

She fell asleep at her desk, dreaming again of a nightmarish snake, and a lost family she could barely remember.

It was a wedding, and a there was a man by her side, and what looked like some weird creature dressed up as a reverend…it was a marriage ceremony, and she had been the bride. The man brought the ring close to finger, but never got the chance to put it on her as a giant wormlike creature soon ate him, and he dropped the ring as the two plummeted into the underworld.

Then blackness surrounded her being, and she felt a dress wrap around her, and Lydia awoke in a fright.


	5. Winter River

**CHAPTER 4 – WINTER RIVER**

--

"Beetle geis?"

"Beetle guess?"

Lydia sounded out different variations of the name. It was on the tip of her tongue, and she knew that if she were able to figure out the name, perhaps she'd remember where the ring came from.

She had figured out that the spelling ingeniously hid a name, and figured that Betel was actually Beetle, with a different spelling, with the same pronunciation. She had no idea how she knew it…it was just like it hit her all of sudden, like she had always known it, and it just suddenly resurfaced.

A monster movie played on T.V. It was one of the Jason movies, where he and some psychic-girl battled each other. She really wasn't paying much attention to it though, and even though she seemed to have start developing a taste for these kinds of movies, she really had no idea why.

The monsters were the best part, because there was usually something tragic in their past that had caused them to become what they were. It's not right what they are doing, but still, you just have to feel bad, and even come to understand why they are doing what they do…just by knowing that one tragic piece-of-info.

You would even sometimes wish they would change, so you could….

At the moment, she really couldn't focus on it, as she lay there in bed. Too many nightmares, and too many questions plagued her at the moment.

The forces of the afterlife blocked her memory, and what was once special has become unfairly unknown to her. The Maitlands were gone, and so were the memories…the good and the bad.

She felt lonely, and even her closest friends weren't really what she was looking for. She started feeling sad at the moment like we all do, in our little moments where we feel alone and pathetic, like anything and everything we've ever done really never mattered.

That secretly you wished you could just disappear from everyone, because you think all you ever bring is pain, or you're just some sort of inconvenience to your friends and family.

Even her dad wasn't paying much attention to her, with his work and all. Her stepmother wasn't someone she really wanted to seek comfort in either.

The black cat she now called Percy slept before her, and it seemed like her only friend in the world at the moment.

Then the pain struck. It wasn't physical, but the emotional stress…more of an uncomfortable feeling had enveloped her, and she began to cry. Thoughts of ending her life surfaced, and clashed with her being.

Sure there was Bertha and Prudence, but they weren't close enough just quite yet. Still, it felt as if there was nothing she could live for.

--

Many years ago, a boy reached out for his younger brother, as he coughed up blood.

"Donny!"

His tears filled up, as those very same eyes looked up at his elder brother, who gazed at him with a look of hurt.

"Please don't leave me alone. You're the only one I have left."

The younger brother smiled, and said, "The disease…it took everyone from us, brother. Now it looks like…" He coughed again, and continued, "It looks like it's going to take me too."

The elder brother didn't know what to say to him, as he lay there dying right before his eyes. It was almost too much. First his friends, then dad, and then mommy…and now even his brother was to be taken.

"It's so unfair brother. The disease doesn't seem to have affected you, and now you'll be left…all alone…"

"BROTHER, DON'T DIE!!!"

His brother closed his eyes.

There was nothing left now. The disease had taken everything, and as the days went by, people would selfishly ignore the boy's cry for his needs. He was alone in life now, and the people died around him, and even if they paid him no mind, he still cared…because everything that was happening had happened to him.

Why does the disease separate us? He had thought time and time again. His family…all of them had left him alone in the world, in this brutal time.

Then he answer had come.

Why should he wait? He wanted to be with his family that had left him alone. He didn't have to wait. He could just end it, right here, and right now.

He made his way to the nearby river, during the winter months that seemed to never end. The boy knew it was going to be a lonely death…but he knew that if he didn't do this, the disease would have won. It had unfairly left him in this world alone, as if to just mock him.

Later, when the villagers had found him, his face was a pale white, with shades in his eyes. One of them spoke, "It looks as if he's a ghost, the poor boy."

This story is said to have been the inspiration for the town's name, because the boy unable to continue any longer had thrown himself into the river during the cold months of winter.


	6. The Reunion

**CHAPTER 5 – THE REUNION**

--

Beetlejuice stared into the eyes of Juno, with a rare expression of focus. An expression one rarely got to see.

Juno broke the silence, and said, "The Living Immortal."

"Curdle…"

She had closed the curtains in her office, and sat down with Beetlejuice to discuss what she had planned, and knowing his relationship to her, perhaps she would easily gain the information she needed. She wouldn't have to wait long….

"She really was the only one who showed me affection…and I mean real affection, not lust." His tone had changed from comedic to deadly serious.

"Sure, I had acquaintances here and there…but most people didn't accept my gross nature, but Curdle…no, she loved me."

Juno was surprised to see this serious side of her ex-apprentice again, one she thought lost forever. She motioned him to continue, in fear of losing his seriousness, and being unable to gain all of the information she needed.

He turned his head, away from Juno's eyes.

"We first met during one of my earlier years on the job, or more accurately, just awhile before your predecessor who had moved on to the next world, to which you took his place. I was so excited to see the world again, if even from the eyes of death…but I found nothing had ever changed, and people still hurt each other."

Juno didn't care to hear about what she already knew, and rushed him to get to the story of Curdle.

"Of course…no one ever wants to hear about poor little me."

"Anyway…it all started during a séance."

He paused, and turned back to Juno's gaze.

"I met this lonely girl, whose parents had just died. She was trying to summon them, and instead, for whatever reason, I was the ghost she got. However, I couldn't help but feel bad for her. So I would tame her…at the time I even played with the idea of killing her, so she could be with her family again."

Juno's eyes widened a bit at the statement.

"I too had been separated from my family, but I did not want her to share the same fate I had been destined to, so suicide was out of the question," Beetlejuice said in response.

"Damn afterlife…oh well, at least they let me grow up here, being that children are special cases for you netherworld lackeys," he said in a sarcastic tone, as he rolled his eyes. "I later learned that the parents had tried contacting her, but the poor devils…the people of Curdle's household assumed they were vengeful specters…they were exorcised."

Juno spoke up, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Beetlejuice gave a mocking laugh.

"Because, it was against the rules."

--

Lydia stared at the blade, one of Delia's sculpting knives. This is all she needed. Nothing made sense to her anymore.

She lost her real mother, replaced with one whom she had no connection to. Her dad ignored her, for his own nerve-shot reasons, and then she wasn't able to make friends but with two people this year. The rest of which had only bullied and made fun of her.

All that she had learned was lost to the afterlife, and so her original depression had returned.

--

"Juno, those damn rules. They keep us apart…tear us apart."

Beetlejuice was getting an angry tone.

"I kept watch over her from time to time, when I was trying to help that married couple. She was depressed before then. She feels alone, and separated."

Juno had to ask what he meant by that.

"Don't you get it? If I'm not mistaken, The Maitlands have moved on, leaving Lydia the way she was before. She doesn't remember them, or what they did for her. She's going to make a mistake, if we don't do something now!"

"To make things worse for her…she has that ring. Curdle's going to make her make that same mistake I did, even if Lydia bravely decides against it."

--

Lydia grabbed the knife, and made her way back to her room. She locked the door, and stared into her mirror for a moment. Looking at someone she barely recognized.

--

"Just let me go to her, and I promise I'll behave. I have to fix my mistake, and keep that girl from making one too."

Juno had to think for a moment.

"The more you think, the less likely it will be that I'm unable to help her. I need you to call me from the other side, please!"

Juno finally agreed. Perhaps she and many others hadn't given Beetlejuice enough credit.

--

Lydia first brought the knife to her wrist, and then to her neck, deciding which was best. Either way, it would be an ironic twist, she thought, done in by her stepmother's own tool for art.

She assumed she didn't care either way.

--

"We'll have to get back that mirror too."

Beetlejuice got even angrier.

"Damn it, Juno…the more time we waste…the more likely it is she's already…"

"Fine, I'm going right now."

She disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Beetlejuice to wait for his name to be called.

--

Juno appeared in Lydia's room, and as Beetlejuice had said, it looked as if she was going to kill herself. Juno was too afraid of the netherworld king to actually do anything, and so she recited Beetlejuice's name three times, knowing he would do what most ghosts wouldn't do, in fear of being exorcised or banished to the deepest recesses of the afterlife.

Lydia felt arms wrap around her, and from nowhere heard the voice. "Don't do it."

"Who are you?" Lydia asked in a fearful response.

"Someone who made the same mistake you were about to do."

Lydia began to cry, "Your voice…it's familiar to me but..."

"But you can't quite place it."

Lydia felt a hand remove the knife from hers, and the sharp item fell to the ground. She fell to her knees, crying.

The arms still hugged her, a friendly and maybe even loving feeling bounced off of them. Images of a boy throwing himself into a river, and the forces of the afterlife flashed through Lydia's head.


	7. Not A Worm

**CHAPTER 6** **–** **SATURN SANDWORM HE IS NOT**

--

Beetlejuice wasn't as evil as most assumed, and really was only looking out for the dead guys, and especially those who seek his help, even if it's not exactly what they had bargained for. He did keep the Maitlands from being exorcised, like he had promised Lydia after all. That's why Juno had gone easy on him when he finally made it to her office, which had been embarrassing due to his shrunken head, which he had easily returned to normal with some practice, giving him yet another new ability to add to the list of supernatural talents.

Now he held Lydia close, as she cried with her face planted into his chest. She was petite, and fragile, topped off with emotional imbalance. Lydia felt so much like Curdle to him. They shared so many things in common, yet one was lost to a wicked evil…and the other had been one who he tried forcing himself on.

He wondered if he could ever be forgiven for that marriage incident.

Beetlejuice then concentrated all of his memories into her being, from his early childhood, to his suicide, to the many years in the afterlife, and even to the event of trying to marry her.

She held her head against him still, with a shaky voice.

"You…?"

"I know you from somewhere."

--

"To the living, let now the dead come alive."

The little girl sat with her godparents, knowing nothing of what they were attempting. They were reciting the words within a strange book she had never seen before, and she merely stared down at the floor.

"As sudden thunder pierces night, as magic wonder mad affright, rives asunder man's delight."

What did catch her attention though, were her deceased parents appearing before her. They looked as they were trying to say something to her, but no sound ever reached the girl's ear.

"Our ghost, our corpse and we rise to be. As flies the lizard, the serpent fell, as goblin vizard at the spell. The dead, buried and slain, rise again."

They soon turned to grotesque beings, that just couldn't have been her parents, and finally they disappeared in a flash of light. It was only when her ghostly friend had told her the truth, did the event and memory actually hurt her.

Curdle pushed herself into his chest, crying.

"I love you."

--

"Lydia…I'm so sorry."

Juno was watching from afar, shocked that Beetlejuice actually apologized. She almost felt like she was dreaming, if she could actually dream again. This couldn't be that troublemaker everyone knew as Betelgeuse.

"I've had so much trouble controlling myself…death isn't an answer at all, and because of the curse, and the many years…so many years…I just have trouble controlling myself at times," he said as he continued his embrace. "Please try and remember everything."

"I watched you before. I saw your note."

Lydia recalled writing the letter-a suicide note-but did not remember anything else, or why she had written it. She did remember the snake.

"When I first saw you, I looked into your soul. I understand what it feels like to be alone, and different from everyone else. To have parents who don't seem like they don't care for you, but actually do…even if they seem like they have forgotten you from time to time."

A single tear dripped from his eye, and looked to Juno who was in awe of his words.

"Yes, I was that nightmarish creature you now dream about often, but I was just so happy to haunt again, which is something I love doing as it's the only thing I've ever been good at, and I know it's no excuse, and I am sorry for it, but please remember what the Maitlands did for you."

Lydia tried, but could not recall any of it.

"If you can't remember, then remember that even though she's not your real biological mother, she does in fact try and keep your best interests in mind, whether the two of you get along or not. Just look at her…"

Beetlejuice, still only visible to Lydia in an enigmatic presence formed a window that revealed Delia crying. She sat on the bed, alone from Charles.

"She's crying because she fears where your strange and unusual nature may lead you to, not because she hates you. All she wants is acceptance…and…"

He had to think for a moment, to decide what the best way of expressing himself would be.

"And, really, all she wants is a connection. Do you remember what got you into photography?"

Lydia concentrated hard, and thought back to her childhood.

--

Lydia was just getting used to the idea of having a new mother, of whom she now sat in the lap of. Delia had been showing off some of her "unique" sculptures, and most of them were very ugly, and maybe even pointless.

"Those are ugly."

Delia felt a bit offended by the remark, but decided that it was just because she was a child, that she would say such a thing. "You just don't understand their meaning yet. You know, even so, not all ugly things are as bad as you would think at first glance…"

Lydia was more interested in the book set next to one of them, to which she asked, "What's this?"

"Oh that? Just a scrapbook from my college years, nothing special."

"I wanna see!"

"All right, I guess it wouldn't hurt."

She gently placed Lydia to the side of her, and brought the book to her, returning to the same position.

"Wow, these are pretty. Who took these?"

Delia answered that she had taken them, when studying the art of photography in one of her classes.

--

"Do you remember now?"

Lydia came to a realization now, and had to cry even harder.

"Please, don't let the blackness consume you…at least not completely. I've been consumed by so much, and it's not at all bearable. Don't make this mistake that I made."

Then without warning, Beetlejuice was flung back by Curdle.

"Hello again Juicy." She appeared in front of Lydia who still wasn't able to see any of the ghosts that now filled her room.

"Such a touching speech. Just what makes you care for this girl so much, anyway?"

"Maybe I just have a thing for dark haired girls…maybe I really don't care at all, and am just playing with yet another mind. I don't know…it's been so many years, and so many faces, I really don't know who I really am anymore."

"That doesn't sound like my Juicy."

"Heh, I was normal once…but then death consumed me. It kept consuming me, until I became the poltergeist that stands before you. I am not your pet."

"Oh, but I beg to differ."

Curdle snapped her fingers, and Beetlejuice found himself on Saturn.

"Gah, Damn it!"

--

Juno yelled at Curdle, "What the hell are you planning?"

"To make sure that everyone is alone, like my parents. I'm going to send every single soul to the lost souls room. Where everyone can feel lonely for the rest of eternity."


	8. The Real Curse

**CHAPTER 7 - THE REAL CURSE**

He wandered the foreign desert alone, unfamiliar to the terrain. He focused on nothing but the piercing cold that had surrounded him. He still felt it, even now, after so many years.

It was the feeling of ending one's own life.

"Do you wish to save her?"

A voice echoed in his head.

"If you do, you must recognize you are waning between limbo and the next life. It is only a matter of time before you will have no longer the choice to stay in this plane-of-existence. As you know, it won't ease your pain…"

Beetlejuice thought for a moment, worried that he would soon be eaten again. It wouldn't be long before a sandworm would rear its ugly head. That and the words of a familiar voice were giving him a fair warning.

"Is it that hard to actually care for someone other than yourself? You use to care so much for me, after all…or did you forget that too?"

He pretended to be Donny, using the exact words he would have used if they had still stayed close, and had been going through this together.

He screamed out in confusion. Why should he have to care for anyone? It's not like there was a fate that really changed anything. Even in death, he had been kept apart from Donny, and his family…to serve as a civil servant of the underworld.

"Maybe I should have…no, I really am a bad. I wanted to marry her, for my own reasons only."

Then he recalled the conversation he had with Juno.

"Betelgeuse, the way you handle things…how do you expect to keep yourself from being exorcised?"

"Heh, sorry, but as you know, I've been cursed. I'm doomed to never have that satisfaction."

Juno had given him a strange look, one of the few stares to ever make him feel uncomfortable.

"Why won't you open up?"

"SHUT UP!"

He was too proud, that had been the truth.

That had been the first time he had cried in so many years, and it surprised him. He didn't think the dead were capable of such an expression.

"Betelgeuse…"

He closed his eyes, forcing the tears to fade away.

"That's no longer my name…it's Beetle Juice, as in what I've become.

"What do you mean by that? It's the same word."

"No it's not. It's what I am. I'm scum…the stuff people hate; I'm as low as bug guts."

Yeah, that had been fun. Telling her why he chose this new name. In the old days, it was a name his mother had given him, named after a star or something. Not that it mattered anymore….

Now, like a roach, he would go on living, forever.

The curse was starting to take its toll. Even his suit seemed to have bolder, and blacker stripes, and he fell to his knees. His eyes began to glow a menacing red.

Even his voice was not his own.

"I will be free again…"

Beetlejuice fell into the sand, too stressed to even care anymore.

---

Lydia absorbed her lost memories. What really confused her though, is that it was that gross ghost that had just saved her. Why would he help her? The last time she had seen him, he was trying to marry her, for whatever purpose.

She felt something wrap around her neck, choking her.

"The ring, honey. Give it to me."

Lydia turned to the phantom, and stared at her for a moment, unable to speak. The ring let off a red aurora and blasted a beam-of-energy through Curdle, who then screamed in pain as she faded away.

Juno was speechless, while she witnessed the event take place.

Lydia stared at the ring, feeling something horrible was contained within the ring. She turned to Juno, with an expression full of questions.

"What is this all about?"

---

Curdle opened her eyes to witness several sandworms surrounding her. The scary thing was that they were quiet and still. Then she turned her attention to a black being, with eyes burning with hatred, as he sat atop one of them.

It took a brief moment to realize she was on Saturn.

"I'm beginning to grow impatient. Free me soon, or I will take you to the lost souls room myself."

Curdle was still with fear, and took a moment before she was even brave enough to move again.

"I'm an illegal alien to this existence. A demon…the devil, as some might call me. That is why I need you."

He lifted himself up, and levitated toward the sandy ground.

"It took me quite awhile to infest the underworld…my last connection to the realm of life; the ninth chain to brake, so to speak. How Dante got that confused with a level of hell, I'll never know, nor do I really care, nor does a hell even exist."

He walked past Curdle and stopped.

"Though, the idea intrigues me. A soul can still burn, after all…but it isn't nearly as satisfying when they're still alive, and this puppet has left a bad taste in my mouth as of late…not nearly as tasty as he was when I influenced his drowning."

His voice was now an echo of two, of the demon that spoke, and of his puppet.

"But alas, he was the last of my disease. So, I was forced to hide among his being…until he met you. You, the last of the heretics, and the last of your kind…or so I thought."

Black and white tentacles caressed Curdle.

"There is another."

Curdle froze, and dared not move.

"Yes, there is one who is alive; one still able to naturally speak with the dead. You could imagine my surprise when I let this goofball go about his deadly duty, and he ended up discovering her, and even developing a sort of crush on her. Not love per say, but defiantly an admiration of some sort."

The evil creature placed his hands upon her shoulders.

"Or maybe he saw a bit of you in her. I'm not sure which. It's not like he can ever love you again, especially after what you've done to him. Little did you know that curse was to reawaken me…how could you know?"

"You just wanted him to love you. You never really meant any harm, and now you play this silly game with him, saying things that hurt him. Tell me, do you really wish for everyone to be sent to the lost souls room, or is it just another farce, and you really hope to control me? With my own power?"

Curdle was forced to her knees by the tentacles.

"You sensed the evil hiding in him, and eventually caught on. Sure, you may have been upset at first about your parents at first, but I highly doubt a good girl like you really wants to actually harm anyone. This is why you actually cried, and cursed him. You just didn't want him to know, and didn't want him to hurt…so you gave him an excuse to hate, and even fear you."

The sandworms started moving again, in circles.

"To try and keep me bound to that damn existence…but then, death finally caught up to you. Tell me, how did it feel to be murdered?"

The tentacles ripped through her dress, and revealed her gory-wounds.

"The living immortal…yeah, until someone kills you. This is when your powers are ripe, and you bravely made your way toward him…to try and steal back that ring. That however, was something I had planned on, and that's why I left it with that young girl."

The tentacles massaged the gashes, making Curdle scream in pain.

"You thought you could defeat me, but you didn't expect this. Yeah, trying to keep me away from the ring, while it is I who is actually keeping you from it. Heh, I'm just thankful I'm beginning to merge with this host…it's allowed me to take more control, and influence more of his actions…"

The puppet returned to normal, and fell to the ground. The stripes still remained, and he stared off into the distance, looking at something only he could see.

"My corpse…find…my…corpse."

The sandworms quickly surrounded Beetlejuice as he lay there in a fetal position.

Curdle thought he was delirious, but ghosts can't be delirious. At least that's what she thought. His corpse would have long been gone by now, but then she recalled he was raised in the underworld. His real corpse would have been hidden, replaced with a biodegradable fake, placed there by the underworld staff.

It was needed in order to age his being, so he could serve as a civil servant.

"If you destroy my corpse…you…will destroy him. Hurry, I can only control him for so long. But bound me to the underworld again, so you can have more time."

She agreed, and said his name three times, not knowing where she just sent him.


End file.
